High Tech Meets Agriculture

Farm work is on the decline, but work in agriculture-related business is booming. Two ways that technology is transforming the farming business is in creating websites where farmers can find bargains on seeds and selling technology solutions to help farmers collect and monitor data. Listen to hear the many new jobs that are being created using technology in interesting ways to improve farming businesses.

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Related Current Events

A cracked dam in Washington endangers farming near the area with lower water levels and the looming threat of a summer heat. Lowered water levels have caused a temporary increase in tourism in spots but also revealed old graves.

Nevada's farms are few and far between, and the recent drought has not made survival easier. Some farms decided to "hack" the drought by adapting to the region's water shortage by growing better suited crops.

Farmworkers are feeding everyone else’s family – but their own. Many farmworker families find themselves turning to junk food due to cheaper prices compared to fresh food. Listen to this story to learn how this is possible even when they work and live right next to farms.

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Language Challenge

These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.

Low

These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for elementary students or English learners.

Medium

These stories have an average language challenge for middle and high school students, and can be scaffolded for English learners.

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These stories have challenging vocabulary and language and students may need to have some background knowledge to understand the story.